Killer study: why men should be dying to do the housework

IF MEN spent more time doing housework and child care, they
might live longer, a study suggests.

The Victoria University study, Killing Time, found that
although men had more leisure time than women, they did not spend
it engaged in "meaningful activity", and might literally die of
boredom.

The authors recruited 186 men aged 20 to 75 and asked them to
record how they spent their time over two days and how they felt
doing activities. They also had to complete a health survey that
measured their mortality risk. The findings were presented
yesterday at a seminar on gender and time use at the University of
NSW.

The results showed that most men were sometimes bored or lonely
during their free time, and there was a strong correlation between
these emotions and mortality risk.

While women busied themselves with domestic chores and life
goals, men spent more time watching television, playing computer
games, reading, driving or doing nothing, said Leonie Bloomfield,
the psychologist in charge of the study.

"There's an argument that it might be worthwhile [for] men to
exchange some of their leisure time for a higher participation in
unpaid work," Dr Bloomfield said. "Some of [their] time could be
spent engaged in domestic work or increasing their participation in
child care."

The results were controlled for demographic, health and
behavioural risk factors, showing that it was boredom that led to
the mortality risk and not the other way. But it was not clear why
this should be so, Dr Bloomfield said.

Boredom made men more likely to drink and smoke, and their long
hours of couch time increased their risk of diabetes and obesity.
"But these behaviours aren't enough to explain why men die earlier
than women," Dr Bloomfield said.

"Regardless of how much alcohol or physical activity they had, a
passive lifestyle independently increases their mortality
risk."

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